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Racial and ethnic differences in health in North Carolina : a special report from the Center for Health Informatics and Statistics and Office of Minority Health, North Carolina Division of Public Health.

Racial and ethnic differences in health in North Carolina : a special report from the Center for Health Informatics and Statistics and Office of Minority Health, North Carolina Division of Public Health. - Page 1

Racial and Ethnic Differences
in Health in North Carolina
A Special Report from the Center for Health Informatics and Statistics
and Office of Minority Health
North Carolina Division of Public Health
November 2000
Latinos, compared to Whites. These charts summa-rize
the data presented in the tables of the main re-port.
The ratio of the measure for the minority group
to the measure for Whites is shown in these figures if
it is greater than 1.5. African Americans exhibit a
large number of substantial health disparities ( Figure
1). American Indians have elevated rates of death
from diabetes, motor vehicle injury, and homicide, as
well as higher rates of smoking during pregnancy,
late or no prenatal care, and infant mortality ( Figure
2). Hispanics have substantially higher rates of death
from motor vehicle injury, homicide, and AIDS, and
a higher rate of late or no prenatal care ( Figure 3).
Health indicators for Asians in North Carolina are
much better than those for Whites in almost every
case. One exception is that Asians have a higher per-centage
of births where the prenatal care was begun
after the first trimester ( ratio = 1.6).
The results presented in this report emphasize
areas where minority groups have worse health prob-lems
than Whites. Notable areas where minority
groups are better off than Whites in North Carolina
are: smoking is lower among African Americans – in
the general population of adults and particularly dur-ing
pregnancy, chronic lung disease and suicide death
rates are lower among African Americans, the per-centages
for smoking during pregnancy and for low
birthweight are lower among Hispanics/ Latinos, and
the infant mortality rate is lower among Hispanic/
Latino births.
It is hoped that the information presented in this
report will inform North Carolina citizens about ra-cial
and ethnic disparities in health, and assist in the
formulation of policies and programs in North Caro-lina
to reduce these disparities.
For a copy of the full report on Racial and Ethnic
Differences in Health in North Carolina, contact the
Center for Health Informatics and Statistics at ( 919)
733- 4728 or go to the Center Web site at http://
www. schs. state. nc. us/ SCHS/ pubs/
Executive Summary
The purpose of this study is to document health
differences among the major racial and ethnic groups
in North Carolina. Race is considered as a marker of
health problems not as a risk factor or cause. De-scribing
racial and ethnic differences in health allows
targeting of resources and health improvement pro-grams
toward populations most in need.
This report presents descriptive statistics by race
and ethnicity for Whites, African Americans, Ameri-can
Indians, Asians, and Hispanics/ Latinos. The fol-lowing
topics are included: population, risk factors
among adults, deaths, cancer incidence, live births,
risk factors around the time of pregnancy, and infant
deaths. There are some potentially serious problems
in the reporting of health data for the smaller minor-ity
groups. Health events for these groups are likely
to be under- reported and the population data used for
the denominators of rates may be inaccurate.
The results of this study show generally poorer
health among African Americans and American Indi-ans
in North Carolina, compared to Whites, across a
variety of measures. For American Indians, however,
there is concern about the accuracy of the reporting
of race on health records, so that the published statis-tics
may substantially underestimate the level of
health problems among American Indians. This
underreporting is also likely an issue for Hispanic
ethnicity. The measures of health problems for His-panics
are generally much lower than those for
Whites, especially for chronic diseases. However, the
very young age of the Hispanic/ Latino population in
North Carolina, the “ healthy migrant effect,” and
other factors may also contribute to low rates for
many of the causes of death and for other health
problems in this group.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 show areas where there are
large disparities in the health indicators for African
Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics/

Racial and Ethnic Differences
in Health in North Carolina
A Special Report from the Center for Health Informatics and Statistics
and Office of Minority Health
North Carolina Division of Public Health
November 2000
Latinos, compared to Whites. These charts summa-rize
the data presented in the tables of the main re-port.
The ratio of the measure for the minority group
to the measure for Whites is shown in these figures if
it is greater than 1.5. African Americans exhibit a
large number of substantial health disparities ( Figure
1). American Indians have elevated rates of death
from diabetes, motor vehicle injury, and homicide, as
well as higher rates of smoking during pregnancy,
late or no prenatal care, and infant mortality ( Figure
2). Hispanics have substantially higher rates of death
from motor vehicle injury, homicide, and AIDS, and
a higher rate of late or no prenatal care ( Figure 3).
Health indicators for Asians in North Carolina are
much better than those for Whites in almost every
case. One exception is that Asians have a higher per-centage
of births where the prenatal care was begun
after the first trimester ( ratio = 1.6).
The results presented in this report emphasize
areas where minority groups have worse health prob-lems
than Whites. Notable areas where minority
groups are better off than Whites in North Carolina
are: smoking is lower among African Americans – in
the general population of adults and particularly dur-ing
pregnancy, chronic lung disease and suicide death
rates are lower among African Americans, the per-centages
for smoking during pregnancy and for low
birthweight are lower among Hispanics/ Latinos, and
the infant mortality rate is lower among Hispanic/
Latino births.
It is hoped that the information presented in this
report will inform North Carolina citizens about ra-cial
and ethnic disparities in health, and assist in the
formulation of policies and programs in North Caro-lina
to reduce these disparities.
For a copy of the full report on Racial and Ethnic
Differences in Health in North Carolina, contact the
Center for Health Informatics and Statistics at ( 919)
733- 4728 or go to the Center Web site at http://
www. schs. state. nc. us/ SCHS/ pubs/
Executive Summary
The purpose of this study is to document health
differences among the major racial and ethnic groups
in North Carolina. Race is considered as a marker of
health problems not as a risk factor or cause. De-scribing
racial and ethnic differences in health allows
targeting of resources and health improvement pro-grams
toward populations most in need.
This report presents descriptive statistics by race
and ethnicity for Whites, African Americans, Ameri-can
Indians, Asians, and Hispanics/ Latinos. The fol-lowing
topics are included: population, risk factors
among adults, deaths, cancer incidence, live births,
risk factors around the time of pregnancy, and infant
deaths. There are some potentially serious problems
in the reporting of health data for the smaller minor-ity
groups. Health events for these groups are likely
to be under- reported and the population data used for
the denominators of rates may be inaccurate.
The results of this study show generally poorer
health among African Americans and American Indi-ans
in North Carolina, compared to Whites, across a
variety of measures. For American Indians, however,
there is concern about the accuracy of the reporting
of race on health records, so that the published statis-tics
may substantially underestimate the level of
health problems among American Indians. This
underreporting is also likely an issue for Hispanic
ethnicity. The measures of health problems for His-panics
are generally much lower than those for
Whites, especially for chronic diseases. However, the
very young age of the Hispanic/ Latino population in
North Carolina, the “ healthy migrant effect,” and
other factors may also contribute to low rates for
many of the causes of death and for other health
problems in this group.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 show areas where there are
large disparities in the health indicators for African
Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics/